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Saturday, 9 November 2013

Safe water scarcity is one of the biggest challenges people in Tuvalu faces. Rising sea levels has led to saltwater intrusions, affecting groundwater, the main source for the daily freshwater needs for Tuvaluans. While groundwater is no longer fit for human consumption, Tuvaluans are left to rely mostly on rainwater catchment and storage, however dependence on rain water cannot be guaranteed as climate change has also affected rainfall patterns. What are we gonna to about it now?

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Students learning experience has effectively improved after the Faculty of Arts, Law and Education introduced its newest initiative.
The initiative, known as Peer Assisted study Sessions(PASS) aimed to assist courses that has high failure rates, and has seen improvements in student’s study results.

Monday, 26 August 2013

The Fijian Language Department faces difficulty
in increasing the study level on the course, Fijian Language for beginners. The
course is only offered at 100 levels and steps to increase the study level can
not be done. The podcast will focus on why the study level can not be increased
and how the increase would benefit students.

Wednesday, 21 August 2013

One of the University’s goals is to provide first year students with a successful learning experience. This podcast shows the approaches made by the Faculties at the University of the South Pacific to make the first year students learning experience a successful one.

Thursday, 30 May 2013

Good
citizenship is an essential requirement of a cohesive and progressive society
and a strong sense of nationhood is very important for the sustainable
development of a country. Fiji, through the years had been known to be the
representation of the way the world should be. It is a doubt that this phrase
could still be used today, looking at the way our country is progressing right
now. Poverty issues are rising each year. Think
Pacific, an organisation aiming to reduce poverty rates in Fiji stated more
than 250,000 people in the Fiji islands lives in poverty while many more lives
on or just above the poverty line. Authorities seems to be powerless in
enforcing rules to avoiding accidents as number ofroad accidents kept increasingover the years.
The rise in crime rates committed among youths seems to be unstoppable and rape
cases has surprisingly increased, the youngest victim being a nine-month old
baby, as reported by the Fiji media.

The police department recorded a total of 2980 sexual
crimes, with offences against public morality topped the list with 2153, and
rape and attempted rape followed with 448 cases.

We, as
citizens need to be critical about this issues that seems to emerge unexpectedly.
With the many fights and suggested solutions to the issues addressed, nothing
seems to be effective. What people in Fiji need is a change in attitude and I
believe this could only be achieved if all citizens are educated with civic
values.

One of USP's most prolific researchers in education,
Jeremy Dorovolomo said higher education institutions needed to citizenship values, character and
civic life as its first objective. He said activities and programs
enhancing cooperation, critical thinking and tolerance would bring out the best
in students. Director for Higher Education Commission Salote Rabuka said
citizenship education was vital for the growth of Fiji youths as they would be
future leaders and acquirement of desired attitudinal values would help in
making effective decisions. She said the Ministry of Education supports
citizenship education, having it integrated into the Social Science program in
Fiji. It would be good, however, if this study is integrated in all school
programs.

There is a
high possibility that crime rates, poverty and road deathscould be reduced if
citizens are educated with moral values. What they learn will restrain them
from committing unforgivable acts. Everyone would strive to make a living on
their own by resorting to other ways of solving problems. In the case of
unemployment, they may resort to living the life as those in traditional
settings, earning a living through farming and fishing, to name some. Road
accidents would be solved in the sense that everyone would be equipped with the
knowledge on the necessity of following rules laid down by authorities.

If
citizenship education is enforced in homes, work places and schools, Fiji could
again claim that yes, they are the representation of how the world should be.

“A Day in the life of
Sports Science Students. This podcasts gives a clear picture of Sports Science student's outreach to the community, particularly to those who are often ignored and looked down upon in society, the Elders at the Old People's home and the mentally challenged students at the Special School in Labasa.

Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Have you ever wondered what the best approach would be for a success school?
A study conducted by one of the lecturers at USP in the Solomon Islands proves that schools could be successfulin its operation if school principals has a strong connection with the community.

The study showed it was necessary that school Principals build a positive, productive and engaged school community.

The study found that some school principals were heavily bureautic, and in some instances threatening, demanding, intimidating, manipulative, and even frightening staff members to the point where they seek transfer or find a different profession.

School principals must therefore be aware of these flaws in their characters and resort to communicating more with the community if they want to see improvements in their schools.

“I taught for ten years before working in an office and this was actually what I found,” she said.

“While the school will benefit in terms of social, economic and moral support, the community will also benefit through education for children, through interaction with teachers and other forms of informal contacts and support of community development.”

It is therefore important that school principals take into account the approaches to having a successful school.

In order to place impactful and improved student learning, school principals need to work closely with teachers, parents and students as these are the people who contribute to the successful operation of a school.

Sunday, 26 May 2013

Postgraduate students at the Institute of AppliedScienceat USP were urged to publish findings from research to provide information to interested audience.The need for research publications was highlighted
at a workshop held earlier this year at IAS where all participants made an
agreement to submit journal articles focusing on findings from postgraduate
researchers.

This approach should be a delight not only to students within the university but also to researchers in the country.Benefits for publishing research findings would enable both international and local audiences to be well informed of any research work and significant findings made.

As a budding journalist, I feel journalists too would benefit more if researchers publish their findings and I have learnt this from experience.

As a reporter for the USP newspaper, Wansolwara, I have often written research stories. I have benefitted mostly from the research works published but at times faced difficulty as some research works were not published and would therefore have difficulties in finding information for certain stories I wanted to work on.

Therefore, it is critical that research works conducted should be published for the benefit of everyone seeking information on the findings, especially if the research work conducted is significant.

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Developing experts in Fiji and the South
Pacific region is critical in further discoveries and documentation of new
species. USP, as a highly recognised institution in Fiji is one place where opportunities
are given to develop quality researchers. This is because of the quality resources
available and the institution’s successful collaboration with quality researchers
abroad. USP has proved to have developed quality researchers and this could be
seen by the success of the student researchers it produces. For instance, the
discovery of a newly recorded plant in Fiji by a Graduate student researcher
and field assistants at USP shows the capability of Fiji in making new
discoveries on their own without depending on foreign scientists to make new
discoveries for them. The plant, which was a bryophyte plant, was a result of a
study taken for the first time in Fiji and the region. USP Vice-Chancellor
Professor Rajesh Chandra said the finding of a plant species never recorded in
Fiji before was an example of the need to develop our capacity for research
within the Pacific Island countries. He said it represented a significant step
in the development of independence of our societies and nation and it was
important that people in Fiji realise this. Collections Manager and Adjunct Curator at the Field Museum ofNational History in USA Dr Matt Von Konrat said the discovery reinforces the
fact that there are many exciting discoveries remaining both for Fiji and the
region. Konrat said the new finding highlighted that nothing could replace
having a resident expert.

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

More than 250,000 people in the Fiji Islands are
estimated to be living in poverty, while many more are living on or just above
the poverty line. It is said that Fijian communities, especially those in rural
areas suffer the most extreme consequences of poverty. Despite the many fights against poverty in Fiji, it seems nothing has been effective enough as the poverty rates in Fiji kept increasing. What we need is a new approach, actually, one that has been in existence long before the modern world became an influence. I have often been reminded of the days when our ancestors would enjoy living on the natural resources that were available. They had farms, they went fishing, went hunting for food and fruits to make a living and they lived well. I think its time that those living in rural areas in Fiji realize the resources available to them and make use of it for a living. During my primary and secondary school years, I have often come across many students whose families earn a living through farming. There was no problem in the payment of school fees.

During the ground-breaking ceremony of a new multi-purpose hall for women in Savusavu earlier this year, Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Doctor Jiko Luveni said it was the duty of all citizens to ensure poverty issues were controlled.

She said families needed to be self-sufficient instead of depending on social welfare assistance.

This is one thing Fiji citizens must be aware of, to be self-sufficient. Who knows, causes for poverty may be due to laziness. There are many kinds of work that are available in rural areas, where villagers could make a living from. Unemployment should never be deemed as a cause for poverty. Many a times, people have often though high quality education was a solution to ending poverty as they would get a good job later in life. There needs to be a change in the mindsets of people. Instead of sitting down and lamenting on things not achievable, people in rural areas need to make use of the resources available. With a resourceful environment they live in, they do not need to count themselves unlucky just because they do not have access to things those in urban areas have access to. If they are saying that life is difficult, they need to think about how their ancestors managed to live through the years through the use of natural resources.

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Minister for Women Doctor Jiko Luveni at the ground breaking ceremony of the new multi-purpose hall in Savusavu.